Zaključak

Scytheovi hladnjaci koje smo obradili u ovom članku u pogledu performansi ponijeli su se prilično dobro. Obzirom na brzinu ventilatora, Mugen i Mine Rev.B imaju odlične performanse koje najviše dolaze do izražaja kad je procesor pod opterećenjem. Korištenjem bržih ventilatora performanse bi zasigurno bile bolje, no kao što smo imali prilike vidjeti na primjeru Thermaltakeovog Big Typhoona VX, tihi ventilator s povećanjem broja okretaja se brzo pretvara u rikajućeg lava što za većinu korisnika predstavlja neprihvatljiv kompromis. Kad je pak riječ o Ninja mini hladnjaku, teoretski najslabijem od tri testirana Scytheova hladnjaka, on na svojim performansama nije oduševio, no tomu se ne treba čuditi obzirom na probleme s testnim procesorom koji se čak i na tvorničkim postavkama iz nepoznatog razloga zagrijava kao da je dosta overclockiran. Premda nismo u poziciji kritizirati Ninjine performanse, moramo se još jednom osvrnuti na njegove gabarite i buku koju generira priloženi 80-milimetarski ventilator. Iako je niži od Mugena i Minea, Ninja mini je i dalje prilično velik i masivan hladnjak koji neće biti kompatibilan s dosta HTPC kućišta. Velik problem je također buka hladnjaka koji se vrti relativno brzo zbog malenog promjera, ali i zbog toga što nije opremljen sklopovljem koje bi omogućilo automatsku regulaciju brzine putem matične ploče.

Kad je pak riječ o načinu instalacije, Mugen/Mine i Ninja mini se opet osjetno razlikuju. Prva dva hladnjaka dosta je teško instalirati na matične ploče, a još veći problem se pojavljuje pri deinstalaciji, pa smo mi primjerice bili prisiljeni rabiti kliješta da bi hladnjak skinuli s matične ploče. Ovakva loša iskustva plod su forsiranja standardnog, tool-less, mehanizma za ugradnju hladnjaka (kakav se koristi na box hladnjacima) u kombinaciji s masivnom konstrukcijom. Zbog toga smatramo da je kod high-end hladnjaka čija konstrukcija ne dozvoljava laku implementaciju standardnih kopči za instalaciju, bolje koristiti specijalni sistem baziran na vijcima. Kad je pak riječ o Ninja mini hladnjaku, problema s instalacijom ili skidanjem hladnjaka s matične ploče nema. Premda u principu koristi vrlo sličan mehanizam instalacije kao Mugen i Mine, kod Ninje je tijelo hladnjaka perforirano na taj način da je do kopči moguće doći s duljim odvijačem što jako pojednostavljuje cijeli proces instalacije ili deinstalacije.

Na kraju dolazimo i do cijene. U hrvatskim trgovinama je za Mugen potrebno izdvojiti 365 kuna, Mine Rev.B 299 kuna, a Ninju mini 305 kuna. Za usporedbu, Thermaltakeov Big Typhoon VX košta oko 360 kuna. Samim time cijena Scytheovih hladnjaka odgovara njihovima mogućnostima.

 

Conclusion

Three Scythe coolers we covered in this article have score pretty well in terms
of performance. Considering speed of installed fans, Mugen and Mine Rev.B offer
great cooling performance, especially when CPU is overclocked or under heavy
load. If Scythe decided to use faster fans results would be even better but
as we have seen in the case of Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX, slow and thus quiet
fans can quickly turn into raging beasts when their speed is increased. Of course,
most users are not prepared to accept such compromise so Scythe made a good
decision to use slower fans.

Ninja mini, theoretically least performing of all three Scythe coolers we tested,
failed to impress us with its performance. Actually, we expected this to happen
because this cooler is designed for work in HTPCs and our flawed Core 2 QX6850
ES CPU, notorious for excessive heat generation, is not exactly a typical "brain"
of HTPC rig. Although we are not really in the position to criticize Ninja’s
performance, we can say a few things about its design and noise. Although Ninja
is lower than Mugen and Mine, it is still a pretty large cooler and that means
it won’t fit in some HTPC cases. Big problem is also noisy 80mm cooler which
is powered by 3pin connector. We understand the necessity of using smaller fan
on this type of cooler, but at the same time we think that Scythe should have
opted for a more complex fan with integrated speed regulation or at least PWM
circuitry that allows motherboard to control its speed.

We covered performance and noise, now it’s time to say a few words about installation.
Mugen and Mine Rev.B are pretty difficult to install on a motherboard, especially
if we are talking about high-end motherboard with complex chipset cooling. Even
greater problems arise when you want to remove coolers. For example, in both
cases we were forced to use pliers to turn plastic knobs which are holding cooler
in place. These problems could have been avoided if Scythe decided not to mix
securing mechanism standard for box coolers. In general, high-performance and
thus large coolers are much easier to install if they are equipped with special
mounting systems based on bolts. On the other hand, Ninja mini is also equipped
with standard mounting systems but at the same time we had no problems installing
or removing this cooler from the motherboard. Reason for that are four large
perforations on its body which allowed us to reach plastic fastening bolts with
a long flat screwdriver. In other words, we could easily push bolts down when
installing heatsink and unlocked them via turning when we were removing heatsink
after testing.

In the end, there is also the factor of price. In Croatian stores Mugen can
be purchased for 365 kunas (about 50 euros including VAT), Mine Rev.B for 299
kunas (about 41 euros including VAT) and Ninja mini for 305 kunas (about 42
euros including VAT). These are prices are acceptable considering performance
and features of tested coolers.